Charismatic Storytelling

If I had to sum up in two words everything I’ve learned in 25 years of work on communications, rhetoric, public speaking, speechwriting, and body language, those two words would be: charismatic storytelling.

Charismatic because in an over-stimulated, impatient world, it’s passion and charisma that get attention. But passion alone doesn’t get you to charisma; that magic ingredient takes a little additional work.

Storytelling, because we’ve already got way too much information to take in, so the only thing we remember these days is stories. And oh yes, that’s the way it has always been.
The good news is that both charisma and storytelling are skills you can learn, not gifts from the gods that only a select few are anointed with.

That’s it. If you’re a charismatic storyteller, you can command attention, persuade people of anything, sell successfully, lead multitudes, and even make politics work again.